Veteran receives donated home in Addison

Thursday

Apr 25, 2013 at 5:00 PM

By Dan CherryDaily Telegram Staff Writer

As the old saying goes, home is where you hang your hat.

And on Wednesday, Eric and Chelsea Daggs and their son, Carter, now call a renovated house on Railroad Street in Addison home, thanks to a donation made by two organizations who help military families with housing.

Bank of America Michigan has partnered with the Military Warriors Support Foundation to donate the 133-year-old, newly renovated home to the veteran and his family through the Homes 4 Wounded Heroes program.

Daggs, who lived in Brooklyn until Wednesday, was born in Ypsilanti and raised in Dundee. He joined the U.S. Army National Guard as an infantryman in 2004 and served in Iraq from September 2006 to September 2007. Daggs’ entire tour and experiences — including being in close proximity to a mortar blast — have resulted in the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress syndrome.

But things are looking up for the veteran. The family applied last month to be considered for one of the homes donated through the program. And, earlier this month, they got the call. Their application had been accepted and a home — in an area near where Chelsea had grown up — was ready for occupancy.

“It’s still unreal to me,” Eric said Wednesday as he looked around the spacious house.

“This house is beautiful,” Chelsea said as son Carter ran from room to room to explore. “This is beyond our imagination.”

The Daggs thanked Scott Ward, consumer market manager and vice president of Bank of America Michigan, who was on hand to help present them the new home. Ward, himself a military veteran, said it is important for a veteran like Daggs to be in a home that brings his family all together under one roof. The house is one of 2,000 to be donated this year, and one of 100 in Michigan.

The next few days for the Daggs family will be busy as they move in. Chelsea is set to graduate Saturday from Jackson Community College with a nursing degree. Eric’s new job will be that of stay-at-home dad, and as winter weather gives way to spring, he said he has his eye on the nearby lakes for fishing.

“It’s a good sports area,” he said as he looked at the shelves in the garage, perhaps soon to be home to that sporting equipment he wants to put to good use.

And Chelsea continued to marvel at the bathroom, almost overwhelmed at the amenities it offered.

From the garage to the kitchen, and the closet near the hallway, they all nodded in agreement.